NAGPUR, INDIA – A high school student in central India was crowned the world’s shortest woman by Guinness World Records.

NAGPUR, INDIA – A high school student in central India was crowned the world’s shortest woman by Guinness World Records.

On the day she turned 18, Jyoti Amge, officially became the world’s shortest woman. She is just 24.7 inches tall – shorter than the average 2-year-old.

Guinness representatives visiting from London measured her at a ceremony attended by about 30 relatives and friends in the town of Nagpur, in Maharashtra state.

A teary-eyed Amge, dressed in one of her finest saris, called the honor an “extra birthday present” and said she felt grateful for being small, as it had brought her recognition. After receiving a plaque, she and her guests cut a birthday cake.

“I have put Nagpur on the world map. Now everyone will know where it is,” said Amge, who says she dreams of one day becoming a Bollywood film star as well as becoming a point guard in the NBA.

What???

“I want to be an actor and I want to play basketball,” she said.

Apparently, she is a big fan of American basketball. “I love Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. They are my favorites. I think I can make it in the NBA. Muggsey Boyles played and he was short, so I think I can too.”

She is barely taller than a basketball, so many friends and relatives tell her to give up her dream, but she won’t have it. “I think I can do anything I want in this life. I am going to earn a university degree, I’m going to act in Bollywood and I’m going to play for the L.A. Lakers.”

The previous “shortest woman” was 22-year-old American Bridgette Jordan, who had held the title since September.

This was not Amge’s first Guinness record. Until Friday she was considered the world’s shortest teenager, but in turning 18 qualified for the new title. She has grown less than 0.4 inch in the last two years, Guinness said in a statement, and will grow no more due to a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia.

The title of shortest woman in history continues to be held by Pauline Musters, who lived in the Netherlands from 1876 to 1895 and stood 24 inches tall.